Principal 'held cage fights for bad kids'
Adelaide Now
March 20, 2009 01:15pm
A FORMER school principal is under siege after sending troubled students into a steel cage to battle it out Fight Club-style with bare fists and no head protection.
Internal records show the "cage fights" took place between 2003 and 2005 at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, Texas.
The reports describe sanctioned violence in which school staff and even principal Donald Moten relied on the cage to settle disputes and control wild students.
The Dallas Morning News reveals investigators say Moten "knew of the practice, allowed it to go on for a time and failed to report it".
Former school counsellor Frank Hammond said: "It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff. They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security."
Yet Moten insists no cage fights took place while he was principal.
"That's barbaric. You can't do that at a high school. You can't do that anywhere," he stormed.
District investigators reportedly learned of the fights as part of an investigation into grade-changing for student athletes that ultimately cost the school its 2006 boys state basketball championship.
Investigator Michael Hinojosa confirmed that there were "some things that happened inside of a cage" but criminal charges were not filed.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25215175-5006301,00.html
umm what can you say?